Gunman kills three at US family planning center

A gunman opened fire at a prominent family planning center in Colorado, killing three people and wounding several in a standoff that dragged on for five hours before he surrendered Friday.

A usually busy area of snow-covered Colorado Springs was placed on lockdown into the early evening, just a day after millions of Americans celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday, in the latest incident to shed a damning light on the United States' gun culture.

Mayor John Suthers paid tribute to police for hauling the gunman into custody without further bloodshed at the Planned Parenthood building, where people scrambled into a safe room in a desperate bid to save themselves.

A police officer was among the dead, he said, while nine others -- among them five police -- were wounded. None of the injured were in a serious condition.

"I want to convey to the loved ones of the victims: this is a terrible, terrible tragedy that occurred here in Colorado Springs today," Suthers told reporters. 

"Obviously, we lost two civilian victims, we mourn the loss of a very brave police officer."

It was not immediately clear if Planned Parenthood -- a major women's health and family planning group -- had been specifically targeted.

Abortion is one of the services Planned Parenthood provides for women, and the association has become a lightning rod for criticism by social conservatives.

Those critics, many of whom seek to outlaw abortion in the United States, have accused Planned Parenthood of selling fetal organs and body parts for profit, and encouraging women to have abortions in order to expand such operations.

Photo Caption: A suspect is led away in handcuffs by police following a shooting which left three people dead and nine wounded at a Planned Parenthood facility on November 27, 2015 in Colorado Springs, Colorado (AFP Photo/Justin Edmonds)